Pet owners, particularly pet owners with small animals, require a method of constraining their animals to a confined area so as to contain pet waste and food in domestic environments to particular locations. Pet cages are the most often used method for constraining the pet to the confined area. However, these devices commonly consist of an enclosure of bars. This allows the pet to spill waste or food in undesired areas. As a result, these cages often are equipped with waste guards protruding from the cage in order to prevent undesired spillage.
Furthermore, pet owners often desire a method of leaving food within a constrained area for the pet. As a result, the pet is normally fed by placing the food within a feed receiver. This enhances the owner's ability to maintain the hygiene of the cage by preventing waste and other contamination from coming into contact with the food. Additionally, these devices provide the pet owner with a trouble-free method of feeding the bird. These devices are often attached to the inside of the cage or through an opening through the use of a support mechanism.
One shortcoming of the prior art is the cage door design, which allows the front doors to extend beyond the waste guard. Pet owners regularly open the doors to the cage for cleaning, feeding, and pet entertainment. Particularly, pet owners regularly provide recreation by allowing access to the top of the cage. Very often pets, such as birds, cling to the open cage doors beyond the protruding waste guard consequently allowing food and pet waste to spill into undesired areas. This is a serious disadvantage of the prior art pet cage arrangements.
Moreover, the feed receiver designs often allowed the pet to remove the feed receiver from within the support mechanism. This would result in damage to the feed receiver and the necessity for a replacement. Consequently, prior art designs can result in unnecessary expenses to the pet owner. In addition, animals will often cling or sit above the feed receiver. This results in animal waste falling within and contaminating the feed receiver.
Furthermore, these feed receiver designs take up room within the cage. Consequently, there is a reduced amount of space to house the pet. Additionally, these designs often require that an individual reach within the cage in order to change and add contents to the feed receiver. This exposes the individual to physical harm from the pet especially individuals for which the pet is unfamiliar. These also are serious disadvantages of the prior art pet cage arrangements.